Kaiju Profile: Gigan Rex & Gigan Miles
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The Gigan Miles and Gigan Rex kaiju profile is the 72nd episode of Wikizilla's Kaiju Profiles video series. It was uploaded on December 4, 2022.
Video
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Transcript
Hey kaiju fans, I'm Goldn, and today we're going to be discussing two new interpretations of a familiar face who happens to be celebrating a big anniversary this year: Gigan Miles and Gigan Rex!
Gigan Rex is a powerful red variant of the cyborg monster Gigan who debuted in the 2022 short film "Godzilla vs. Gigan Rex," which you may have seen posted on Toho's Japanese Godzilla Channel. His subordinates, called Gigan Miles, appear closer to traditional depictions of Gigan and originated with "Gigan Rex" director Takuya Uenishi's fan film "G vs. G.” After Godzilla interrupted the rampage of a horde of Miles, he was challenged by their leader, triggering a disastrous confrontation. Rex, as you may have heard at the end of Tyrannosaurus, is the Latin word for "king," while "miles" is the Latin word for soldier.
Design
In early 2019, GEMSTONE - a collaborative project between Toho and their co-owned social media company AlphaBoat - launched a Godzilla-themed competition to discover talented young creators. The winners' prize? The opportunity to have their own Godzilla project realized by Toho! Enter Takuya Uenishi, a VFX artist and 3DCG director whose fan film "G vs. G" afforded him a first prize. The short featured a redesigned Godzilla and Gigans, though it's not clear whether Uenishi created them himself. It's worth noting, however, that the wintery Godzilla from 2019's "Shinkansen Henkei Robo Shinkalion the Movie" appears incredibly similar to the "G vs. G" Godzilla, and Uenishi appears in the movie's credits as its designer and modeler. He was also responsible for modeling the forms of Shin Godzilla, so he's plenty capable.
In any case, "Godzilla vs. Gigan Rex," initially announced to be a sequel entitled "G vs. G 2," retains the previous short's Godzilla and Gigan designs with some minor alterations. The Miles were given the ability to eject their buzzsaws, requiring a newly modeled stomach section. The real star of the show, of course, is the titular Gigan Rex, who sets himself apart with his striking red coloration and all-new weaponry. The whole film was created in the 3D graphics software Blender, and motion capture was at least partially used. Moreover, some scenes are reused from "G vs. G," though with enhanced effects.
History
As mentioned, "Godzilla vs. Gigan Rex" was planned as a sequel to "G vs. G" - and its description on YouTube implies they share continuity. But, with near-identical scenes from that one showing up here and the prologue stating that Godzilla hasn't been seen in a quarter-century, it's less than clear. Nevertheless, let's summarize both:
G vs. G (2019): Gigan crash-landed near Mt. Fuji and went on a rampage, easily destroying the JSDF fighter jets sent to stop him. Godzilla appeared to challenge him, and they soon came to blows. As four more Gigans arrived, Godzilla unleashed his atomic breath.
Godzilla vs. Gigan Rex (2022): 25 years after Godzilla's last sighting, an army of Gigan Miles invaded Japan. As one of the cyborgs dispatched a squadron of fighter jets, more of its kind routed a tank battalion in the city below. Amid their continued razing of the city, the flying soldier landed, a jet in its mouth. Suddenly, a wounded Gigan Miles fell to the ground in front of them. Godzilla had come to destroy the invaders - dispatching them, in order, with a stomp, nuclear pulse, and atomic breath. But his fight was far from finished: their leader, Gigan Rex, touched down behind him. The newcomer's chest laser was far more potent, and he both dodged Godzilla's atomic breath and blocked it with his Rex Blades. Just when the cyborg seemed to waver, a barrage of lasers broke Godzilla's concentration. Nine Gigan Miles arrived hovering overhead. At their monarch's direction, they extended their chest saws and charged forth, laying on a relentless aerial assault. Ultimately, they came down on Godzilla and oppressed him with their saws. In response, Goji unleashed a white-hot nuclear pulse and, now glowing, shot down another of the pests. Gigan Rex seized the power cores of his remaining underlings to power up his chest laser, which he matched against Godzilla's supercharged ray. After Godzilla poured on the power, the two rays set off an explosion… and Gigan Rex toppled to the ground. The King of the Monsters roared in victory.
Abilities
Gigan Miles have buzzsaws built into their chests. The weapons are never seen actually drawing blood, instead producing showers of sparks upon contact with Godzilla's skin. At Gigan Rex's command, the Gigan Miles peeled back the flesh on their abdomens and protruded their saws outward - revealing an intricate metal mesh surrounding their power cores just behind. The extended buzzsaw of one even deflected Godzilla's atomic breath.
Both Gigan Miles and Gigan Rex are capable of flight. Worth highlighting is their ability to abruptly adjust their momentum midair.
Both soldier and king have blades in place of forearms. Merely slicing at the air can produce an aerial slash, cleanly splitting in half a building some distance away. Gigan Rex can take his Rex Blades to a new level by transforming them into serrated metal whips, effortlessly cleaving through buildings. As solid blades, they withstood a sustained blast of Godzilla's atomic breath. A large spike also caps off their tails. While we never got a chance to see their lethality in combat, Rex did use his to stabilize himself after getting knocked off balance by Godzilla.
Power cores: The Gigan Miles possess glowing red orbs at the center of their bodies that appear to serve as a power supply. Gigan Rex was able to power himself up by removing these power cores from his soldiers… who instantly dropped dead.
Forehead laser: Each Gigan Miles can fire thin yellow lasers from the apertures on their forehead, accurate enough to shoot down incoming missiles and fighter jets. They had little effect on Godzilla, but managed to startle him at a pivotal moment.
Chest laser: Upon opening the crevice on his abdomen, Gigan Rex reveals an eye-like device capable of emitting a powerful yellow beam that knocked Godzilla off his feet. Once Gigan Rex powered up, the laser changed to a rich red. We don't get to see how much stronger this red ray is, but its ability to trigger a Beam-Fight against Godzilla's white atomic breath implies that their strength is comparable.
Trivia
"Godzilla vs. Gigan Rex" drops a couple of hints that its Godzilla is a grown-up Godzilla Junior. It opens on a shot which echoes the ending of "vs. Destoroyah," with "The Psychic Chorus" from "Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II" selected as the background music. The narrator is voiced by Megumi Odaka, who played Miki Saegusa in the Heisei films, and she mentions that Godzilla last appeared a quarter-century ago. Taking into account that "vs. Destoroyah" takes place in 1996 and "Gigan Rex" was originally supposed to be released in 2021, that'd give us exactly 25 years in between.
Though these are strong allusions, keep in mind there hasn't yet been explicit confirmation from Toho that "Godzilla vs. Gigan Rex" is a "Destoroyah" sequel—unsurprising, given how reluctant the company has been to revisit old "Godzilla" films besides the original. It's similar to the way some of the IDW comics reference the films without being formal sequels to them.
Maybe that'll change in the future, but for now… that's all we've got on these new versions of the "Future Monster." Thanks for watching!
